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TOEFL SAT TEM8 GRE
外刊例句
- Japan Inc is caught in the rift between America and China.
中美失和，殃及日企。
——《经济学人》 - Officials tried to play down the rift.
官员们试图淡化分歧。
——《纽约时报》
基本释义
[noun] a crack, split, or break in something
[名词] 某物的裂纹、裂缝或缝隙
深入解读
Rift 是一个比较简单好记的4字母单词，通过它可以联想起不少与之结尾相同的单词来，诸如 gift, lift, sift, shift, swift, drift 等。
该词源自北欧语，最早出现于14世纪初，本义是指“裂纹、裂缝、裂口”，通常表示由某种自然过程造成的断裂，包括山上岩石的裂缝以及地球表面的断裂、断陷谷、长峡谷等，比如：
- 不要践踏石缝中生长的小野花
Don't trample on the tiny wild flowers growing in the rifts in the rock.
进而也可以用 rift 引申指云间“缝隙”或林间“隙地”，比如云罅（a rift in the clouds）、林间隙地（a rift in a forest ）。
等到了17世纪20年代后， rift 开始用来喻指人际关系等的“分歧、裂痕”，即友好关系的严重破裂或严重不和，常意味着类似于自然形成的岩石裂缝那般，起初很小但有扩大风险，比如：
- 即将爆发的裂痕
a simmering rift - 不断加深的分歧
a growing or widening or deepening rift - 弥合总统和政府之间的分歧
mend/heal a rift between the President and the government
权威用例
政治极化和社会撕裂导致民主共识难以达成，大选闹剧和选后乱局成为美国政治的显著特征。
Political polarization and social rifts have made it difficult to reach a democratic consensus, and election farce and post-election chaos have become prominent features of U.S. politics.
同近义词
- crack: a line on the surface of something along which it has split without breaking apart
- fissure: a long, narrow opening or line of breakage made by cracking or splitting, especially in rock or earth
- fracture: a crack or break in a hard object or material, typically a bone or a rock stratum
